This product review will go over the quality, installation, fitment, and function of the Perrin cold air intake for your BRZ, FRS, or 86.
A simple way to improve engine performance is to upgrade the restrictive stock intake with an aftermarket cold air intake. The Perrin cold air intake is designed to replace the stock airbox with a better flowing and less restrictive design. The Perrin CAI also draws cold air from the front bumper as opposed to being inside the engine bay. Cooler air means more power. Upgrading your intake to a Perrin CAI will also make the intake sound slightly more aggressive. Coupled with a Perrin inlet hose, you have a great intake solution at a very reasonable price.
Quality
The Perrin cold air intake comes with a foam style filter, filter housing, and the intake tube itself. The intake tube is nicely crafted with a machined mount for the MAF sensor. Topping off the intake tube is a professional powder coat in your choice of red or black. The filter itself is a UNI style oiled filter (excellent quality) that requires cleaning per the included instructions. Speaking of instructions, Perrin provides a very detailed installation guide that is filled with pictures.
Installation
In my experience, the Perrin CAI is one of the more difficult cold air intakes to install. This is because you must remove the front bumper on the car, in order to install it. Performance does not always come easy, but thankfully Perrin includes a very detailed guide on how to remove bumper. Taking the bumper off requires removing a number of bolts holding the top of the bumper on. There are a couple hard to reach bolts on the inner fender well that also must be removed. The last set of bolts & clips to remove are located on the underside of the bumper that keep the splash guard in place.
After that, it is just a matter of pulling the bumper forward out of its retention clips. It does take a decent pull, starting on the corners, to get the bumper to release, but it does come out.
Once you have the bumper removed from the car, the rest of the installation is fairy simple. The stock airbox must be removed, of course. Which, consists of just a few 10mm bolts and a hose clamp, all easy to remove. You will have to remove some bolts in order for the metal bumper support to be lifted slightly. Then, you can fish the Perrin intake tube through the bumper support and secure it per the instructions. With the intake tube installed, simply slide on the filter housing, filter, and re-attach the intake to the stock inlet tube. At this point, you are ready to re-install your bumper in the reverse order that it came off and complete the install.
Fitment
Despite the somewhat involved installation process, the Perrin cold air intake fits well. Perrin spent a lot of time getting this part right and the precision fitment in this area really shows. I imagine getting the part to fit just right between the bumper support was a key part of the design process and they did it well. The cylindrical foam filter fits snugly inside the front bumper with no issues as well. Lastly, the Perrin intake tube lines up properly with the stock intake inlet tube, allowing for a straight and simple connection.
Function
Perrin claims their cold air intake will yield up to 4hp and 4lb.ft by simply installing the product on a stock engine. I do not have any real work dyno numbers to provide personal evidence. However, there are some noticeable changes in the feel of the car after installing the intake. The intake noise certainly increases, giving the car a more pronounced sound when accelerating. From a power perspective, I am not sure I actually feel much of a difference. But again, the dyno would tell the real results. I personally think the Perrin cold air intake is best when complimented by other engine modifications on the car. This includes exhaust components like a RevWorks headers and Tanabe Concept G exhaust.
Rating
The Perrin CAI gets 3 stars in my book. The fact that you have to remove the bumper to install this intake really drags its score down. There are many other quality intakes on the market, with similar performance, that do not require removing the bumper. Such as, the Grimmspeed Cold Air intake.
Perrin Cold Air Intake rating : 3 out of 5 stars
For just under $300, you can purchase Perrin cold air intake for your 2013+ Subaru BRZ, Scion FRS, or Toyota 86 below.
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